The Jets come into the game sitting at 16-3-0 going into the game Friday night with the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road. Meanwhile, the Predators are 6-11-3 on the year. They have struggled this year and lost four of their last five games overall. In their last game, they faced the Seattle Kraken. After a scoreless first period, the Kraken would break the tie in the second. They would add a goal early in the third and then seal the game with an empty-netter as the Predators fell 3-0.
The Jets' top line has already been great this year. Mark Scheifele has led the way. This year, he has 12 goals and 12 assists, with a plus-six rating. He has scored twice on the power play and has seven power-play assists. He is joined on the top line by Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi. Connor has 12 goals and 12 assists already this year, with a plus-nine rating. Further, he has scored four times on the power play. Vilardi has seven goals and eight assists this year with two goals and four assists on the power play.
Meanwhile, Nikolaj Ehlers has been solid this year. He has nine goals and 13 assists this year coming from the second line. He is joined on the line by Cole Perfetti. Perfetti has four goals and nine assists this year, with three goals and three assists on the power play. Meanwhile, the Jets have been getting production from the blue line. Neal Pionk has three goals and 14 assists on the year, while Josh Morrissey has two goals and 17 assists this year.
Eric Comrie is expected to be in goal for the Jets in this one. He is 3-1-0 on the year with a 2.78 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. He took his first loss of the year in his last start, giving up three goals on 28 shots to the Lightning. He has given up three goals in three of his four starts this year.
Why the Predators Could Cover the Spread/Win
The Predator's first line is led by Filip Forsberg, Ryan O'Reilly, and Gustav Nyquist. Forsberg led the team in goals and points last year. He had 48 goals, 46 assists, and 94 points last year. He has already added eight goals and seven assists to start the year. Meanwhile, O'Reilly has also added three goals and eight assists this year already. He had 26 goals and 43 assists last year for 69 total points. Nyquist comes into the game with six goals this year, while adding three assists.
Meanwhile, the Predators get a lot of production from the blue line this year. Brady Skeji and Roman Josi have been solid. Skeji comes into the game having two goals and five assists on the year. Meanwhile, Josi has two goals and 12 assists this year. Finally, Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos have been solid this year. Marchessault has three goals and seven assists this year while Stamkos has six goals and four assists. Further, he has five goals and three assists on the power play.
Juuse Saros is expected to be in goal for the Predators for this one. He is 5-9-2 on the year with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage on the year. In his last start, he gave up two goals on 36 shots but took the loss to the Kraken. Still, he has been solid this month, with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage.
Final Jets-Predators Prediction & Pick
The Predators come in as the favorite in terms of odds in this game. One main reason is the fact that it will be Eric Comrie in goal for this game. Still, he has been solid as the backup this year. The Jets are scoring 4.21 goals per game while sitting first in the NHL on the power play. They are also third in the NHL in goals against per game. The Predators are scoring just 2.30 goals per game this year. While they are first on the penalty kill this year, they allow 3.20 goals per game, 18th in the NHL. The Predators will not be able to score enough in this one to keep up, so take the Jets to win.